Las Vegas – The Magical Fight Capitol

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Posted by Lance Foreman

Las Vegas, the Fight Capitol of the world! I remember being 19 years old and training at Johnny Toccos, getting my bell rung every time I stepped thru the door.  I had the dream of being a pro boxer and fighting for a championship.  I remember going to Ceasars Palace to the open work outs of Larry Holmes as he was getting ready to fight Gerry Cooney.  I remember the PKA kickboxers coming to Las Vegas struggling to be as popular as the boxers.  Las Vegas is a magical place if you want to be a fighter, it is here you can see your dream become a reality with the blessed few that have achieved fighting in Las Vegas, now we see the UFC and MMA being the promotion and sport for up and coming fighters with the dream, like Dave Mazany.  He left Alaska and everything he knew to come train with the Wand Fight Team in Las Vegas, DogBoxer took Dave to Perth, Australia to fight 2 weights above his class to win the K-OZ MW championship. I was never able to reach my dream but 20 years years after I laced up the gloves in Las Vegas I am back as DogBoxer taking the likes of Dave Mazany and David Hulett to far away places to win championships. My 2 sons Briggs and Roy Foreman are local fighters with mma wins under their belts

Las Vegas is the place where these things not only can happen but often do, if it wasn’t for me being here years ago and failing I don’t think I would be here now helping strong willed young talent reach the heights of mma royalty let alone my own sons, there really is something magical about Las Vegas if you are a fighter, trainer, ref, etc. It’s the top of the totum pole, a place where your dream can come true, Las Vegas has a way of filtering out the not meant to be. It can be a place of shattered dreams as well, Las Vegas does not suffer fools and can be a very unforgiving land, only the committed need apply. However there is magic in that as it will not take long to test your mettle and get you back where you belong if mma is not your game because we are in the hurt business and Las Vegas is home to the very best.

I meet lots of young men who have gave up everything to come here to train and fight and I know how they feel as I was there at one point myself. It may be tough but the guys who hang in there, stay out of the party scene, humble themselves, and learn-whether they ever make it in the championship circle or not- will be better off than if they never tried. I know I am and all the years I was not in Las Vegas I never forgot the magic that is here and the possibilities of the Magical Fight Capitol. I have been back only a year and have already seen DogBoxer help 2 fighters win title belts while helping other young men on the journey to their dreams. The magic is still here and if the last year is any indication we have a lot more magic to accomplish. With mma growing worldwide, the growth of UFC, and the talent I see here everyday. Las Vegas will keep producing world champions and contenders alike and for that, Las Vegas will always be the Magical Fight Capitol.

josh
josh

I grew up in Northwest Indiana about an hour from Chicago. I went to Taylor University in Indiana, married my high school sweetheart, had 3 kids, served as a pastor for 10+ yrs in Indiana. Then, in 2007, we moved to Las Vegas to help plant a church. In 2010, I started a ministry called Fight Church and became a full-time MMA Chaplain. I was like a lot of guys when I was a kid. I loved pro wrestling and martial arts movies. When I was in high school I was really into bodybuilding and weight training. I would often look through the Sports & Special Interests section at the video store hoping to find a new dumbbell workout video or bodybuilding documentary. Mostly I found sports bloopers and old women's aerobics videos, but one day I found UFC 1 on sweet VHS and the rest is history!

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Comments (6)

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    Heather

    Nice!

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    Hillary

    Enjoyed the article…look forward to the next.

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    Michael Romero

    I had the pleasure of meeting Lance a little over two years ago. I was managing an MMA event in Ocean Shores, Washington. Based out of So Cal, we were in a new region and territory and the local promotions wanted nothing to do with an outside MMA organization coming in to their back yard. Common in MMA but not to the degree we were experiencing. Our organization got black balled in two states and we couldn’t get fighters from either Washington or Oregon. Lance, inside of 72 hours put together the fight card and had talent moved from Reno Nevada, Idaho and California. This included a guest appearance and assistance from Ken and Tawnya Shamrock to deliver an amazing card and event. One example of the “Juice” if you will of a single individual. Since than we have had the privilege of working with Lance and his wife Heather on events in Minnesota, Nevada, California, South Africa and Australia. Working with many matchmakers,promoters both domestic and international you will rarely find a man with true integrity and character. LOL sounds like an obituary but Thank God both the MMA and Boxing Industry still have Lance in their corner. Do your magic Lance and we are looking forward to working with you on upcoming events that we all know we couldn’t do without you. All the best to your family and look forward to seeing your boys fight again 🙂 Always In Your Corner, Romero

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    Sharc

    Good article, Lance. Keep up the good work!

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    Grady

    I like this article a lot. It’s inspirational, and i look forward to the next article.

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    WEEZNER

    GREAT WRITINGS BRO :-}